Western Cape’s Bitou Municipality only has 50 days of water storage

The Bitou Municipality in Plettenberg Bay has only 50 days of water storage.
 
The levels of the town’s only dam, Roodefontein, are hovering at 28%.
 
Waste water manager Edward Oosthuizen said the town has stopped extracting water from the dam and is instead drawing water from the Keurbooms River.

He said the river’s water supply fluctuates.
 
“We’re supposed to stop abstraction out of the river when the flow goes below 300 litres a second to ensure reserve in the river. With good rain, the flow comes down up to 30,000 litres a second, but it runs down quickly, as there’s no storage in the river.”
 
Oosthuizen added that the town is now implementing interim measures to accommodate dwindling water levels.
 
“We will be reliant on groundwater, the desalination plant and the Roodefontein Dam. Currently, the Roodefontein Dam’s level is at 28% – there’s not much storage in that dam.”